Binotto acknowledges Ferrari's lesser form: 'I hope this is not a trend'

Ferrari had long been the only team competing with Red Bull Racing for wins this calendar year, but in the second half of the season, Mercedes has increasingly entered that fray. Mattia Binotto is nevertheless not worried, he said in an interview with Formu1a.uno.

Last weekend, Mercedes managed to qualify with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in second and third positions respectively, while Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc failed to move beyond a place in the sub-top. In the race, Ferrari then also failed to get in front of both Mercedes drivers.

It was not the first moment Mercedes showed off. For instance, Hamilton also grabbed second place in the United States, while Leclerc crossed the finish line as the third driver. Although the Italian formation has a lead in the constructors' championship, for now, things could theoretically still go wrong in the final two race weekends.

Binotto keeps faith in Ferrari

Binotto, however, maintains confidence. "If I look at the last few races, they were not great," the Ferrari team boss stated. "But in Singapore I think we were very competitive. At Suzuka, we were not as fast as Max, but it was not a drama. In Austin, we were competitive in qualifying, but not so much in the race. Here it was much worse, but not the same."

"I hope this is not a trend, but an exception. We hope to return to our competitive level in Sao Paulo. Mercedes is coming back because they are developing even more than us. We stopped earlier to focus on 2023. So I'm not worried about their improvements because I know we stopped developing."